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SEATTLE - Microsoft Corp. acknowledged Wednesday that it needs to better inform users that its tool for determining whether a computer is running a pirated copy of Windows also quietly checks in daily with the software maker.

Have you tried just renaming WgaTray.exe in WgaTray.bak or something like that. Then it won't load the annying icon but there are no registry entries for it. I wonder if that would negate the risk it creates.

"Pirate Bay" is in Denmark.................the Danish cops closed them down the other day at the request of the MPAA.

Eyecre8 Yes, that is a familiar story and what really makes my blood boil. If you replace a motherboard MS consider that to be a new machine, unless it is to repair a defective one (you don't need any great skills with an engineering hammer to make that true ) This applies to OEM licences.

In the past I would just ring them up and get a number to reactivate the box..............I don't trust them to write competent DRM software so I avoid it where possible.

There are a number of obvious flaws with the WGA software:

1. It will report a dead CMOS battery as pirate software.
2. It will report a deliberate system date setting more than 24Hrs out, as pirate software.
3. It will lock a system based on the number of reauthentications AND reactivations...........even if it is a commercial version!
4. The WGA program cannot differentiate hardware replacements that are permitted, and those which are questionable. Even though they are stated in MS's EULA

All in all, not something that would give me confidence to rush out and buy Vista.

If you cannot do someone any good: don't do them any harm....
As long as you did this to one of these, the least of my little ones............you did it unto Me.
What profiteth a man if he gains the entire World at the expense of his immortal soul?

"Really what you're talking about is someone saying, 'Look we've put something on your computer and it might go screwy, so we're going to kind of check in every day,'" he said.

Exactly my point about Vista

If you cannot do someone any good: don't do them any harm....
As long as you did this to one of these, the least of my little ones............you did it unto Me.
What profiteth a man if he gains the entire World at the expense of his immortal soul?

All in all, not something that would give me confidence to rush out and buy Vista.

Unfortunately, it's the customers who will be rushing out and buying Vista. I'll probably be using Vista whether I like it or not.

That information-gathering is disclosed in a licensing agreement. But the agreement does not make clear that the program also is designed to "call home" to Microsoft's servers, to make sure that it should keep running.

My emphasis was on the "rush" aspect, I would hang back a while and let the dust settle.

I would guess that MS will release the corporate version(s) first and try to time the home and SOHO for the Christmas rush? A lot of these will be bought in cut price stores, so I won't see them for a year?

That would be a good thing IMO because corporates would give it a thorough testing before deployment and the small guys will get the benefit.

If you cannot do someone any good: don't do them any harm....
As long as you did this to one of these, the least of my little ones............you did it unto Me.
What profiteth a man if he gains the entire World at the expense of his immortal soul?